Monday 8th

Today was our first day at the actual campus of Hwa Chong. We had a very early start, and the girls room slept through all of our alarms, and so were racing downstairs to make it in time. The school day starts with a flag raising ceremony, with a marching band playing. It is all very formal and we all just stood there in silence, not knowing what to do. We were then taken to a lecture room (us and the Japanese and Hong Kong students who arrived yesterday), where we all assembled for introduction. They decided to take us on the tour of the school before we did the intro, because the air conditioning in the lecture room takes a while to start. Our buddies took us around the school and showed us as much as they could within an hour. Hwa Chong is soooo much bigger than the heights, and has so many more facilities.....although i guess it means that the heights has something to aim towards :). When we went back for introductions, the Japanese students went first and told us all about their school and Japan using a powerpoint, and they even chopped wood (karate style). The it was the heights turn, with Aidan and I having written a speech the night before, and not having any powerpoint presentation or any technological help. However, we got up and told them all we could about the heights and Adelaide. They actually seemed to like it, because it was short and sweet. We had a break for a couple of hours, and then headed off to URA gallery which had some cool features, and then went to the singapore flyer which was absolutely awesome. Most of the heights group was in the second cabin, but Courtney, Diane, Ethan and myself ran to get into the first one. Courtney and Diane hadn't wanted to go on it, but Ethan and I made them. They sat on the floor of the cabin and vegetated, while Ethan and I were running around the cabin taking photos and enjoying the view with the Hong Kong students who were on their with us. Whilst we were up in the flyer, we experienced our first lot of rain in singapore. It did make everything a lot hotter, but it was quite cool, and ethan was finally able to catch some singapore rain, to go with his air. We all then walked to a shopping centre about 10 minutes away and had tea there. Most of the group have been trying different foods, to try and take in the culture, but others are still kind of hesitant. We went to another shopping centre and were given free time to wander for 15 minutes. We all then caught the bus back to the boarding school and just chilled for a little bit. Today was a great chance for getting to know our buddies a bit more, and was also a chance for us to meet the Japanese and Hong Kong students. They are all very excited and energetic, whilst the heights group, after two days of walking around singapore, are dead tired. Tomorrow is another chance for us to get closer to our buddies and to also get to know the other students as well. We're all having a great time and are looking forward to the rest of the trip :)